NFBE Chapter 352 You see them
Chapter 352 You see them
"Your Majesty, the sun is almost overhead. Don't you think we should find a place to rest?" Li Desheng asked cautiously as he drove the carriage.
Su Nuannuan sat upright in the carriage, slightly lifted the curtain, looked at the sky outside, and then slowly instructed, "Go and send someone to find a flat place so we can stop and rest."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Li Desheng hurriedly replied, then slowed down the carriage.
At this moment, the escorting guard commander noticed that Li Desheng had slowed down the carriage. He was alarmed and quickly urged his horse forward to Li Desheng's side. He cupped his hands and asked, "Chief Steward Li, I noticed that the Imperial Concubine's carriage has suddenly slowed down. Is she looking for a place to stop and rest?"
Li Desheng glanced at Commander Wu, nodded, and said, "Indeed, Commander Wu, do you know of any places nearby where we can rest?"
After a moment's thought, Commander Wu replied, "Go a little further ahead, about fifteen minutes, and there will be a grove of trees with a relatively flat area where you can rest. However, there is no river there, so there is no water source."
Upon hearing this, Li Desheng turned to Su Nuannuan inside the carriage and said, "Your Majesty, Commander Wu said there's a grove of trees ahead with a flat spot where we can rest, but there's no water. What do you think..."
Su Nuannuan said softly in the carriage, "It's alright, we've only just begun, so there's no rush for water. Commander Wu, please send someone ahead to lead the way."
"Yes, Consort Zhuang." Commander Wu replied respectfully, then waved his arm with a swift and decisive motion.
"Commander, what are your instructions?" A young general rode up to Commander Wu's side, clasped his hands in salute, and asked loudly.
Commander Wu glanced at him and said in a deep voice, "Go ahead and lead the way for the Noble Consort, and take her to that flat place in the woods ahead to rest."
"Yes, sir!" The young general accepted the order and spurred his horse forward without hesitation. He quickly came to a stop in front of the carriage, then turned to Li Desheng, who was driving, and said respectfully, "Chief Steward Li, please follow me."
After about fifteen minutes, the carriage, like a weary traveler, slowly entered a flat area in the woods. The sound of the wheels rubbing against the ground seemed like a heavy sigh after its long journey.
Li Desheng held the reins firmly, like an experienced helmsman, precisely controlling the speed and direction of the carriage. With his movements, the carriage gradually slowed down and finally came to a smooth stop.
Jinse, like a nimble swallow, leaped lightly from the carriage. Her movements were swift and elegant. After landing, she quickly arranged the stools for getting out of the carriage, then turned around, reached out her hands, and carefully helped Su Nuannuan down from the carriage.
As soon as Su Nuannuan stepped off the carriage, she was like a bird that had been imprisoned for a long time finally regaining its freedom. She stretched her arms with a sigh of relief and gave a big, lazy yawn. This yawn seemed to release all the fatigue in her body, and her body trembled slightly with the movement, as if every cell was cheering and jumping for joy.
Zhixiang also disembarked from the carriage behind, her movements swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation. She quickly began preparing to cook. First, she took pots, pans, and other cooking utensils from the carriage, then dug a hole in the ground and placed the pot securely on it. Next, she fetched some firewood from the carriage and skillfully lit a fire.
Tingxue remained inside the carriage, methodically tidying it up meticulously. She organized the luggage, arranged it neatly, and then carefully wiped the interior of the carriage, making it look brand new. After finishing this, she leisurely alighted from the carriage and quickly walked to Zhixiang's side to help with the cooking.
The guards responsible for escorting the passengers dismounted and took out their rations from their bags, preparing to enjoy their simple lunch.
"Zhixiang." Su Nuannuan stood not far away, looking at the guards who were eating dry rations, and couldn't help but frown and call out loudly.
Hearing Su Nuannuan's call, Zhixiang looked up and asked, puzzled, "Your Highness, what's wrong?"
Su Nuannuan pointed to the guards who were diligently eating their rations and said, "Look at them."
Zhi Xiang followed Su Nuannuan's gaze and noticed that the guards were eating dry rations with cold water. A look of concern appeared on her face. She quickly nodded and replied, "Your Highness, this servant knows what to do."
However, Zhixiang was unable to leave at the moment. After thinking for a moment, she decided to ask Li Desheng to pass on a message to the guards.
"Eunuch Li," Zhixiang called out, raising her voice as she busied herself.
Upon hearing Zhixiang's call, Li Desheng hurriedly ran over, bowed, and asked, "Miss Zhixiang, what can I do for you?"
Zhi Xiang stopped what she was doing, looked up at Li Desheng and said, "Eunuch Li, could you please tell the guards to stop eating dry rations? I've prepared hot meals for them and will send them over in a bit. We'll save the dry rations for when it really matters."
Li Desheng quickly replied, "Alright! This old servant will make the arrangements right away." With that, he turned and strode towards the guards.
Not long after, cheers and shouts of gratitude came from not far away.
To be honest, when they watched Zhixiang skillfully cook the meal while they could only eat hard, cold dry rations, they felt really bad.
However, what surprised them even more was that Consort Zhuang still cared about them. How could they not feel grateful?
After all, in this cool weather, who would want to eat cold, dry rations when there's hot food to eat?
Before long, a group of people gathered around Zhixiang to help her.
Chika was equally uncompromising, directing everyone to work in an orderly manner, much like a commander.
After all, there are about thirty people here, so even if she moves very quickly, it will still take her some time.
But now that we have these helpers, the situation is very different.
Soon, the steaming hot pot of rice and vegetables was ready!
Of course, Su Nuannuan's meals were prepared separately, given her rather special status.
After everyone had a pleasant lunch, they didn't rest immediately but instead took the initiative to help clean up the venue.
They first extinguished the fire to prevent it from starting a fire, and then filled in the pit they had dug, restoring it to its original state.
Finally, we went into the woods to gather some firewood to replenish our supplies.
Upon reaching the next town, they would need to purchase some food and ingredients to replenish the team's supplies.
After everything was settled, Su Nuannuan and her group set off.
This time, Tingxue did not ride in the same carriage as Su Nuannuan, but went to the back to ride in the same carriage as Zhixiang.
Zhixiang was riding in one of the supply wagons, and the wagon was currently quite spacious.
At this time, Yu Wei had already left the group and headed to the news outpost established by the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion to send messages to the estate in the capital.